Transcript Constellations - Hawaii's Private School - Pre-K-12

Constellations
Sam Kojiro
Terrence Tenjoma
What is a constellation?
 A constellation is a chance grouping of stars
that ancient people saw as pictures in the
sky
 Constellations were known as asterisms also
 This is the Orion constellation.
Major constellations
 There are 88 major constellations that are
recognized by astronomers
 Andromeda
 Aries
 Gemini
 Hercules
 Scorpius
 Ursa Major and Minor
Big Dipper and Little
Dipper
 Big Dipper-makes up part of another
constellation called the Ursa Major
 Little Dipper- makes up part of Ursa Minor
 The last star on the handle of the Little
Dipper is the star Polaris
Andromeda
 Brightest star is Alpheratz
 Named after the princess whom the Greek
hero Perseus saves from being eaten by the
monster Cetus.
Aries
 Aries makes up a shape of a ram, Aries is
ram in Latin
 Its is one of the main signs in the zodiac
Gemini

The two brightest stars are Castor and Pollux

The names of the two brightest stars of this
constellation, Castor and Pollux, can be found in the
greek mythology:
One day Zeus seduced Leda, the wife of the King of
Sparta, Tyndareos. To get Leda Zeus changed himself
to a swan. Leda became pregant and gave birth to
the twins Pollux and Castor and to a girl named
Helena. This was the same Helena who was robbed
by Paris and brought to Troja; this was the reason for
the start of the trojanian war.

Hercules
 Hercules is the son of Zeus and the mortal
Alkmene. Hera was going to kill him, but
instead gave him 12 tasks to complete. If he
completed the tasks he would become a
God. He completed the tasks and was
given Hebe for a wife.
 It is the fifth largest constellation
Scorpius

Lies between the constellations Libra and Sagittarius.

Myth: Once Orion, son of Poseidon and Eurayle, claimed that
he was mighty enough to kill all the wild animals on the Earth.
The Greek Gods and Goddesses were alarmed by Orion's
boast. Secondly, Apollo was also fearful of Orion's love for his
sister Artemis. In order to curtail Orion's pursuit, Gaia, the Greek
Goddess of Earth, sent the mighty and gigantic scorpion to kill
Orion. After this, the tale splits into various versions. According
to one version, Gaia took pity on Orion and placed him on the
opposite side of the Scorpius in the sky so as to prevent the two
from combating again. According to the second version,
Orion fled from the scorpion by swimming in the sea to see
Artemis. Apollo on observing this, challenged Artemis in
hunting skills and dared her to shoot the black spot in the sea.
Artemis succeeded in doing so, while mistakenly killing Orion.
Therefore, the Scorpius constellation rises in the east only when
the Orion is seen to set in the west.
Importance
 Used to tell time
 E.G. The Chinese zodiac.
 Also used to locate position on earth by
sailors and travelers.
Video
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXeEA
QtC75g
Works Cited

"Constellations." JIM KALER. Web. 07 Feb. 2011.
<http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/const.html>.

"NASA - Constellation Main." NASA - Home. Web. 07 Feb. 2011.
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/main/inde
x.html>.

"Stars and Constellations." UW Astronomy. Web. 07 Feb. 2011.
<http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/>.

"Constellations." Windows to the Universe. Web. 07 Feb. 2011.
<http://www.windows2universe.org/the_universe/Constellation
s/constnavi.html>.
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